


Memory

by JustAnotherGhostwriter



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-13
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-26 11:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/965224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherGhostwriter/pseuds/JustAnotherGhostwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They'd taken her memory away. He was human, with one heart, living in a universe without a TARDIS and his Rose - his everything - didn't remember who he was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memory

**Author's Note:**

> I seem to be very into writing about the Bad Wolf these days. Not sure what that’s about. Anyway. I’ve literally had this idea for about half a year and it took a shite load of courage to type it out. So I hope you sort of enjoy it. Thanks for reading.
> 
> Use, reblog, edit, destroy etc as you will. I don’t care. Just if it is used for fic or art in some way please consider linking me? I love reading/looking.
> 
> As always, eternal thanks to The Silver Devastation over at Tumblr for being the most amazing beta ever. 
> 
> [Part of the Great Fic Dump From Tumblr of 2013]

They’d taken her memory away.

 

Both of them had known, of course, that there were a lot of people who disagreed with their stance on alien rights. He’d noticed as soon as he started working at Torchwood that the campaign and resulting law that Rose had started and firmly backed while she’d been in this universe alone had caused her to gain a few enemies. There were always those who wished to take things that were not like them and poke and prod and use violence first before really thinking about it. They’d known Rose - the girl who had had the guts and stubbornness to take on the different legislations of the world - was a threat to quite a few people who had quite a lot of power.

 

But they hadn’t worried. Both of them were used to lives seasoned with danger and beings who didn’t necessarily want them to keep breathing. And when you’ve stared down the Dalek Emperor, some balding human with a lopsided moustache did not make much of an impression. They were slightly weary, because those who opposed the laws and rights Rose (and now him as well, although he didn’t make as many waves because he was not a Vitex Heiress or a Lieutenant at Torchwood One) still actively fought for could make life… Unpleasant. Especially at public parties. But they had backup, too and so the most prominent emotion the Doctor felt when he was faced with people attacking his wife’s policies was astounding, all-consuming pride. His Rose. His Rose had started it all. She was showing the humans what he’d shown her. Sometimes he wanted to burst with the love and satisfaction that consumed him when she, with flashing eyes and Jackie-esque manner, snapped right back at the bullies.

 

They had been weary, but not worried. Nobody had thought those people would sink to the level that they did.

 

It was quite a while after The Incident happened that he was able to make himself research the group’s methods. The beginning of their plan stretched to almost two years before The Incident was actually executed. First, they created themselves: a group from different nations who were willing to sink to the vilest methods to remove the biggest threat against their inhumane approach on aliens They were discreet enough that even he was not sure how many there were in the end or what their names were. (That was a good thing. If he’d dug deeper, bent the rules and figured out who was responsible… He wasn’t sure what he would have done. But it would not have been any semblance of good.)

 

Their second move was brilliance: they bought or blackmailed or bribed the biggest names in media. So when The Incident occurred, the newspapers and tabloids and TV stations that everybody trusted told the world the story that they’d invented. Any media that tried to contest the main story was laughed down by the big names. Medical doctors and psychologists were brought over to their side next.

 

And then, when everything was ready, they simply waited until he was in Scotland and Jake and Rose were on a mission alone together. Jake needed fifteen stitches, most of which were in his head. They didn’t hurt Rose in any way (again, that was a very, very good move on their part) but they did slip her the drugs. Top of the range. Guaranteed to wipe almost everything from the human mind.

 

Their media spread the story that it was an alien attack. Jake’s counter-arguments were dismissed as after-effects of his head wound. And Rose Tyler’s memory loss was explained to the whole world as a result of the same sort of head injury her second-in-command had received, only on a larger scale.

 

She’d never remember who she was, everybody said. The professionals confirmed it. And the big names in everything agreed with the Tylers’ decision to keep Rose’s old life from her. (He’d never asked Jackie or Pete whether it really was their idea. He was better off thinking they’d been bullied into it).

 

Rose Tyler woke up and remembered her mother, but not her father or little brother or anything or anybody else. She was told she was the wealthy heiress to the Vitex fortune and, to keep her out of trouble, she was told she was engaged to Reginald du Bois the third. Reg had taken a fancy to Rose the first time he’d seen her and he hadn’t stopped trying to get her even when the Doctor had appeared on the scene. He was rich, a little selfish, but ultimately not a bad man and he promised he’d keep Rose looked after and out of any trouble that could lead her to remember her old life. The people were outraged about this part of the plan until ‘evidence’ came to light that her husband, another known alien lover, had been the one to orchestrate the whole attack. That was what the aliens did, after all; they blackmailed and brainwashed until you’d betray your own race and even the people you love if they told you to. Treating aliens as people was what got Rose Tyler into this mess, they all exclaimed. It was a good thing she would be forced to forget her part in welcoming the _others_ as equals on this planet. Just look at how alien-loving tainted the heart and mind of her own _husband._

The general story was that Torchwood had him imprisoned somewhere safe.

 

He wished, sometimes, that they’d tried to come and arrest him. It was wrong, he knew, but he wished it so, so bad. Because his self-control was strong enough to keep him from seeking those lying bastards out himself but if they came to him…

 

They did not come. The world largely turned to pretending he didn’t exist, although there were still those who sent him letters telling him they knew he was innocent, that the story didn’t make sense, that they should have let his Rose at least have a say whether she wanted him or Reg.

 

The days following The Incident, when the lie was being spread like wildfire around him, he sat in their apartment and stared numbly at the walls, wondering if he should try and see Rose, try and be the friend who was there and watched her marry another man. Was it more painful to never see her again, or watch her live without knowing who he was? Would she even stay his Rose, now that she was told she’d been born wealthy and had a cocoon surrounding her so she was told only certain things and kept completely from others?

 

He agonised over it for two days. Pete made up his mind for him.

 

"You’ll always be a friend to Jacks and I." Pete stood awkwardly at the door and wouldn’t come in, wouldn’t look at the pictures on the walls. "And I made sure you’ll still be allowed at Torchwood. Just not in the public eye - people need to think you’re locked up. If you ever need anything, we are here for you. But… Don’t come round the house." Pete’s eyes were sympathetic but firm. "I’m sorry. I can’t believe what this must be like for you. But she’s my little girl. And I need to protect her."

The eyes staring at him were the eyes of a father; a desperate man willing to do desperate things to keep his little girl safe. At that moment the Doctor knew that the orchestrators of the plan had left no stone unturned. They had some sort of power over Jackie and Pete – a Sword of Damocles that was so terrifying even the might of Jackie could not make it go away. The Tylers hadn’t seen it coming, either. There was no way for them to find a smart way out of this. And so Pete was doing what he had to do: keep his family safe, no matter the cost.

The door was shut in his face, and the Doctor was left staring at the TARDIS-blue paint.

 

****

 

Rose had made the slow path bearable. Rose had made all the sacrifices worth it. Without her, the four months stretched on for eternity. He threw himself into the private workings of Torchwood - anywhere that needed him. He didn’t go out. He rented a hovel of an apartment near to Torchwood so the public would have less chance of seeing him. And, anyway, that apartment had been theirs. Living in a place that had her smell, her clothes, her pictures, her things, her presence… He was not that strong. He was never that strong.

 

If it weren’t for Jake, the guilt-ridden, still war-hardened human boy who missed her just as much but in his own way, the Doctor would have gone insane.

 

Or he would have gone. He couldn’t regenerate. The end was really the end.

 

His whole reason for being - the very centre of the universe - was gone. What was the point?

 

*****

 

He understood human depression now.

 

He had a Time Lord’s brain but nothing was exciting. Nothing made sense. He couldn’t even do what he’d done after the Time War because he had no TARDIS. No way to run. Nothing he could do to ease the emotions that were suffocating him.

 

And this time his Rose wouldn’t appear to fix him.

 

She was right there, but she was gone.

 

*****

 

How had he thought he deserved to live one lifetime with a girl who burned like a sun?

 

How had he forgotten who he was?

 

He’d believed this time he would not be hurt.

 

He’d been wrong.

 

****

 

This was retribution for what the other him had had to do to Donna, wasn’t it?

 

****

 

He spent the afternoon at a coffee shop, eating chips and staring at the back of some blonde woman’s head.

 

****

 

He took the wedding ring off and hated himself so much for the action he picked a fight with the wrong people just to feel punishment the only way he knew how.

 

****

 

He hated himself so much.

 

****

The ring was put back on.

****

 

If he’d been by her side instead…

 

****

 

He found a Shiver and Shake cartoon and nearly shattered his jaw he clenched his teeth so hard. 

 

****

 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. You okay?” He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. It felt like he’d stopped breathing. “I’m not even supposed to be down here and now I’m barrelling ‘round corners and knocking into people.” That _smile_. “I’m Rose, by the way.”

 

“Smith.” It was all he could manage.

 

“Nice to meet you. Sooo… um… are those alien things?” Her smile turned sheepish and she tucked her hair behind her ear in a familiar gesture. “Dad’s never let me come to his work before and everything’s just… exciting.”

 

“I’m sorting things. By metal type.” His entire brain seemed to have frozen. All he could do was look at her and want _so_ badly…

 

“You… need some help?”

 

 _Say no say no say no say no_ …

 

“Yeah, thanks. If you want.”

 

Her grin and the words she used sent knives into his heart. “Fantastic!”

 

*****

 

A job that would have usually taken him half the afternoon to complete lagged on well into the evening. By the time Rose had to leave because a frantic Pete (who thought she’d been watching TV in his office the whole afternoon) called her phone, yelled at her and then told her they were going home it was close to eight. And they still weren’t done yet. He couldn’t quite remember whether or not it was because he’d worked excruciatingly slow on purpose, just so she’d stay.

 

“I’ll be back tomorrow to help you finish up, yeah? Don’t worry,” she added as she got a look at his face (he had no idea what emotion was showing – his heart was being shredded by about a million different ones). “Dad doesn’t know where I was all day. I’ll tell him I was helping out and I’m needed back.”

 

(He wanted to hug her so badly but knew if he did he’d never let her go.)

 

The next morning stretched on, and she was nowhere to be found. It was like losing her all over again, and the different explanations as to why she wasn’t there ate him up. He hated being this human. He didn’t want this any more. What was the point? He wasn’t supposed to feel this much; feel all this.

 

“Hi.” Breathless. “Sorry I’m so late. Today was the closing dinner for KWE and it ran later than I thought. Plus Dad took a bit of convincing, but he thinks I’m taking part in some charity thing here too. And he knows what I’m like with charities.”

 

Something warm started in the base of his stomach then. She didn’t remember who she had been; didn’t remember her upbringing, the lessons she’d learnt, all the things the stars had taught her. And yet even in a reality where she was told she was a rich princess with everybody around her desperate to cater for her every whim she chose to do charity work. Not because she _had_ to – he knew those who had orchestrated The Incident would want her shut away as much as possible so they’d discourage such things. It was because even now his Rose couldn’t help but want to give back.

 

They started chatting more to each other, slipping from the generic topics to deeper ones. She called Reginald her fiancé and he felt himself die a little inside. Something confused crossed her face and that was the very last time she ever mentioned the man except in passing. She never even said his name again.

He explained his wife to her in great detail. As though hearing his words would make something click in her head. As though his explanations would be enough. It was the worst kind of pain and such great relief.

They finished the sorting. He asked – in a desperate rush – whether she wanted to help out with the other odd jobs he had to do. She told him she better not, that Pete didn’t like her being at Torchwood for some reason, that she should get going and help her mum out at home. And yet she lingered in the doorway on her way out. And he remembered the first time he’d met her. So he asked again.

“Did I mention a lot of it is to do with aliens?”

She gave him that same wide, brilliant grin and walked back to his side without a moment’s hesitation.

 

*****

 

“Are you joshing with me?”

 

“No. I swear. There is a planet that has dogs that don’t have any noses.”

 

“No noses at all? And it’s named after a place in Spain?”

 

“How do you know the place in Spain wasn’t named after it?”

 

“Well because… because… Oh…”

 

“Humans think they’re the big guns in the universe. They’re the smartest. They did everything first. They’re the mould everybody else should fit – the prototype the rest must be compared to.”

 

“We’re tiny, aren’t we? Tiny and… and…”

 

“Yes. But you know what? You’re also brilliant. Oh so very brilliant.”

 

****

 

“Do you think space travel will be possible for us one day?”

 

“Well, spaceships land here all the time. Right now that’s enough for the humans – the aliens face the danger and bring the Earth things from outer space that they can trade for. All the gain, none of the fuss.”

 

“That’s not why I asked.”

 

“No?”

 

“I just wondered… if I could see it. The universe. It’s gotta be… brilliant, right? Out there is so much more than playing with Tony and raising money for disadvantaged kids every second week and going to fancy parties. I love my family and my little brother and the charities I belong to but… I just feel like… Is it stupid for somebody like me to want that?”

 

“No. And don’t you _ever_ think you’re not good enough.”

 

“Thanks, John. You’re a good friend.”

 

****

 

“Hey… you know a few days ago you were saying how humans think they’re the standard? And everybody else must be judged against them?”

 

“Yeah? Could you pass me the –? No, the – That’s it. Anyway. What were you saying?”

 

“How humans think we’re the best. Well… I was just thinking… You’ve worked for Torchwood for a while and… I mean, Dad refuses to talk to me about it and… I mean… Does Torchwood do that? Does this place treat the… aliens they encounter worse because they’re not human? Are there laws or something? ‘Cause I mean, yeah, I’ve seen on the tellie that some are bad but…”

 

He couldn’t find a way to answer. His Rose, still asking all the right questions. And oh, how he loved that woman so much right then.  

****

“I once had a dream I was being chased by a rabbit.”

 

She laughed out loud, utterly delighted by this information. “No, really?”

 

“Swear on my life. It was fluffy and everything.”

 

“Okay, I never dreamed anything like that. Well, I may have before the accident but…”

 

She frowned deeply, staring down into her cup of tea. He wanted to reach across the table and take her hand. Touch her. Comfort her. He knew one wrong move would be the end of it all. Working together on discreet projects in the underground floors of Torchwood was one thing, even though she half-lied to Pete and they did more talking and goofing around than actual work. Sitting across from her in a public café when he was supposed to be in prison for ordering an alien attack on her…

 

“Do you remember anything?”

 

“No.” The little bit of hope dashed. “Well, sometimes I _think_ I do but… Everybody says it’s just dreams and my brain trying to compensate for my lack of memory.”

 

“So what do you dream of now?” He had to change the subject.

 

“Oh, lots of things. Well, the dreams always start out different. Very different. But they always change into one of two things towards the middle and then end _very_ weirdly. I’ve heard of people having reoccurring dreams but this is… every night.”

 

“Nightmares?” She wasn’t his any more but he would do whatever it took to keep her safe at night. “Can’t… Reg help calm you down?”

 

“They’re not nightmares. I’m never scared. And Reg… um…” She turned pink and looked away. “He has his own place.”

 

He tried to stop feeling completely and utterly smug and elated by the revelation but could not. All too soon, their short time was up and they were heading to the door. He stood by her while she hailed a cab and relished in her smile. And then, suddenly, she was hugging him as though it were the most natural thing in the world. She was in his arms again. Her head was pressed against his shoulder. He breathed her in and gripped her tighter than he should have and tried not to break down. She didn’t seem to notice – just gave him a smile and another word of thanks for the tea. He watched her get into the cab and then roll down the window for one last wave.

 

“See you tomorrow, Doctor!”

 

The world shattered again.

*****

 

She didn’t come the next day.

 

She didn’t come the day after that.

 

She didn’t come the day after _that_.

 

On the fourth day, she arrived at the renovated storage closet that was the only space he was allowed to call his office. He could tell at once that something was wrong, and so he did not ask where she had been. She was safe – that was all that mattered. And so he prattled, speaking at ninety miles an hour as he tried to distract her from whatever had her eyes so full of heartbreak.

 

“Doctor…”

 

He fell silent at once, looking straight at her with wide eyes as she repeated his name. He’d told her that his legal name in this world included the title doctor, but she’d never called him that. Not until four nights ago. Not until she was standing in front of him and unable to meet his eyes.

 

“I can’t… I just… I don’t…” She took a deep breath. “I can’t come back here anymore. I can’t be friends with you.”

 

He was ripping again. It was so incredibly difficult to be around her when she didn’t know him, but the thought of once again having to survive without seeing her on a daily basis… He couldn’t take it. Now that he’d had her, he’d do anything to hold on.

 

“Did Pete find out?” he asked quietly, vicious anger starting to boil up inside of him.

 

Rose shook her head. “No, it’s not Dad. It’s…” She struggled for a moment and he caught the way she was clenching her mouth, a sure sign she was trying not to cry. “You have a wife. You have a wife and you love her. I know you do – I can tell by the way you talk about her.”

 

“She won’t mind you,” he said at once, wondering if there was a special class of irony for the situation where the woman you loved was jealous of herself.

 

Rose shook her head again vehemently, pushing her hair out of her face and keeping her eyes away from his. She seemed so lost and so hurt that all he wanted to do was hug her. Once again he found that circumstance made it so that he could only stand across from her and see but not touch. She struggled for a few more moments but no words came and, finally, he had to ask.

 

“Rose?”

 

“I’ve only known you for a month. I’ve known you for only a month so this is no big deal.” She seemed to be trying to convince herself. “I’ve only known you a month and I’ve been rejecting Reg even more since we met and it’s just not fair on him. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry but I can’t do this.”

 

“You and Reginald had a fight?” he pressed, stepping closer as she took a step away.

 

“All we do is fight.” Then she shook her head again, furrowing her forehead as though she was trying to keep the emotions contained. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. I can’t – I have to go. I’m sorry. It was really great meeting you but-”

 

“Rose, did he hurt you?” He could not keep the deadly rage out of his voice as he asked the question.

 

Rose looked at him then, eyes wide at his tone and his expression. She shook her head once more. “No. I just… He’s my _fiancé_.” The first time she’d said that word in a month. And it wasn’t with loving adoration. “I’m supposed to be… He’s angry and this is only going to make things worse.”

 

“Why?” the Doctor demanded, suddenly furious that Rose wasn’t fighting. Since _when_ had she ever listened when people told her to go against her heart? “Why are you letting him dictate your life? Why now? Why didn’t you come to me four days ago?”

 

“I couldn’t,” she whispered.

 

“Couldn’t _what_? Couldn’t is not an answer! You told me that! You told me “you can’t” is not the answer to everything, it’s a challenge. Couldn’t _what_ , Rose?”

 

“I couldn’t look him in the eye and tell him I wasn’t in love with you!” she yelled back, the tears now running down her cheeks.

 

The silence lasted for three seconds, and it was thick enough to cut. They stared at each other, him wide-eyed and her crying. And then the Doctor leapt forward, grabbed Rose in his arms and kissed her. It only took her a split second before she was retaliating, digging her fingers through his hair just as she’d always done and letting him pull her so close he could feel her heartbeat resonating in his chest. He still had two hearts in this universe – one was just not physically in his body this time around.

 

“Wait, wait, no.” She pushed him away a little and he let up only slightly, turning instead to kiss her neck with abandon. “You’re married.”

 

“It’s not like that,” he told her a little breathlessly, very aware of how she was still gripping the back of his neck. “I promise, it’s not like you think.”

 

“I’m engaged,” she tried again, whimpering at the end of the word as he bit into her neck.

 

“You don’t love him.”

 

“No. No I don’t.”

 

She was the one to grab him, this time, and all he could think of was how he wanted her _closer_ so that he could heal all the time they’d been apart. His hands gripped her hips possessively and she responded by arching more into him and grabbing at him tighter. Like a possessed man he started on her neck, knowing all the sensitive spots and attacking them without mercy.

 

“It is so unfair when you do this,” she gasped into his ear.

 

Both of them froze. Slowly, Rose let go of him and backed away. Her hair was all over the place and her shirt was mysteriously hitched up but he paid attention only to her wide, suddenly fearful eyes. He stayed where he was, feeling his heart rate decrease, and waited for her to speak again. She poked a shaking finger in his direction.

 

“I just…” She took a deep breath. “You’ve done that before. _We’ve_ done _that_ before. We’ve… You and me…”

 

They stared at each other for a long while, Rose’s eyes flickering as though she were trying desperately to figure something out. Then her expression hardened and she reached forward, grabbed his hand, and towed him out of Torchwood.

 

*****

 

“Ms Tyler, please try and be reasonable.”

 

The Doctor could not help the hateful glare he was sending at the psychologist that was standing across the room from him. Rose stiffened at his side at the insinuation that she was being unreasonable, and just to the right of the psychologist Jackie and Pete shifted uncomfortably.

 

“I’m not sure what you’re doing here, Doctor Roth.” Rose’s voice was cool. “I came here to have a private conversation with my parents.”

 

“Mr Du Bois called me this morning and informed me that you’d had a fight a few days ago and that you were refusing to answer his calls. He was concerned and asked me to come over to the house to check up on you.”

 

“Well, great. I’m fine. So you can-”

 

“Clearly you are not fine, Ms Tyler. I just heard you inform your parents that you think there’s some conspiracy surrounding your memory loss because you feel you’ve fallen in love with some half-lunatic in less than a month.” Rose bristled but managed to hold her tongue. “That type of paranoia and false emotion is-”

 

“It is _not_ false emotion!” Rose snapped hotly, eyes blazing and back straightening. “I don’t have feelings for him just because I’m crazy or half brain-dead because of some freak fall!”

 

“You told your parents that you feel like you’ve known him for a lot longer than a month. That is obvious confusion, Ms Tyler-”

 

“Why does it have to be some clinical _dysfunction_?” Rose demanded. “Why can’t it just be one of those things? We live in a world where we freely trade with _aliens_. Why can’t knowing somebody as though you’ve seen into their very soul just be the sort of inexplicable thing like a reoccurring dream?”

 

“Ms Tyler, we have already discussed your dreams. Only bits of them are the same and they focus on lots of fairytales which is your brain’s way of yearning after the childhood you cannot remember.”

 

“Not _lots_ of fairytales. Only _Little Red Riding Hood_ and _The Three Little Pigs,_ ” Rose shot back, looking so like her mother as she glared the white-coat down.

 

“Two _stories_ that have _nothing_ in common! Ms Tyler-”

 “They do have something in common!” The patronising eyebrow raised in her direction made her grit her teeth before continuing. “They both have the bad wolf. The bad wolf always comes for me.”

 

The Doctor felt everything in him freeze. Over the panic and the excitement thrummed the wonder and the awe and the sudden question of why on earth he’d ever believe that his pink and yellow girl would allow herself to be taken from him without a fight. Nobody else understood the significance of Rose’s words, but Jackie was suddenly staring at him and he wondered what his expression showed.

 

“That is completely beside the point. Your-”

 

“Fine! Then forget dreams. What about when I’m awake? What about all the times I’ve met somebody and been so sure I’ve met them before? What about the fact that every time I walk past Big Ben I find myself knowing what it would be like to dance with somebody in mid-air right in front of the face? What about when I found an old sweatshirt and knew it belonged to somebody called Mickey Smith before I saw the label? I don’t know a Mickey.” She took a step forward. “What about the time I saw somebody in a black leather jacket from behind, heard him speaking in a Northern accent and couldn’t think anything else but that I’d found him, that I had to get to him? What about all the times I’ve felt guilty and _disgusted_ for holding Reginald’s hand because I knew I’d once had somebody’s hand that fit better? What about that time I went to the museum and saw a 1950’s phone box and burst into tears for no reason? Are you gonna tell me all of those can be explained? Because I don’t think you can, _doc_. I’ve thought for a long time that you lot are bullshitting me about some things but I’ve never had the heart to say anything because I _knew_ you’d pull medical shit on me. But after today I’m not keeping quiet any more. And I want _answers_.”

 

Roth opened his mouth, but no words came out. Rose, still looking peeved, turned instead to her mother. Her eyes turned pleading.

 

“Mum? You know when Reg first kissed me and I told you how wrong it felt? And you said it was just ‘cause I’d forgotten and to give it time. So I let him kiss me twice more. That was months ago. I never let him kiss me again since then. I couldn’t. I just…” She took a deep breath. “Mum, tell me I’m crazy. Tell me this is all in my head and I’m cracking and there isn’t something else that I’m being kept from. Tell me I’m crazy.”

 

Jackie’s lip wobbled. “I can’t do that to you, sweetheart.”

 

“Mrs Tyler!” Roth yelped.

 

Jackie gave him a look that usually made the Doctor quail before her. “She is my _daughter_. I _love_ her. I will not hurt her like this. And fuck you for thinking that your stupid little threats can do anything now that _my daughter_ is back! _Fuck you_! She can handle you any day, my Rose!”

 

“We have a breach! Code seventy!” Roth suddenly barked. “Code seventy!” A few moments later, like a scene from a very cliché movie, security was swarming through the door. “Contain her!”

 

Jackie and Pete both started forward, but the Doctor got to Rose first. Pulling her behind him swiftly, he turned to the men with the guns and fixed them with the most hateful glare he could manage.

 

“Take one more step towards her,” he snarled. “Take _one more step_. Do it. Go on. _Do it_!” Rose’s hand tightened over his wrist like it always had – she was trying to get him to calm down, to remember who he was, to make him not hurt them. They took one step closer and he would ruin their lives like their bosses had ruined his. He had just been given the chance to get his wife back. Nobody would take her away again.

 

“I will have you all _shot_ ,” Jackie chimed in, her voice a shriek. “Get the hell away from her!”

 

To everybody’s utter surprise, more security burst in a second later, aiming their weapons at Roth and his men. Agent Terey – one of Pete’s most trusted – nodded to all of them politely.

“Rose’s voice carries through the halls of Torchwood when she’s upset,” was all he said mildly. Then he turned an ugly scowl on Roth. “And I’m all for ending this bullshit right here.”

“You’re forgetting,” Roth started to splutter, but Terey just gave him a dangerous grin and drew himself up to his full six-foot-two height.

“You’re forgetting, _asshole_ , that all your little shit hinged on Rosie being the victim in all this. But she’s not, is she? Look at her. Even all your best drugs couldn’t stop her. She’s ruining everything your fucking brood of vipers have – your plan, your blackmail, your market. You’re a learned man. Face the facts.”  

Roth’s men, suddenly realizing that they were outnumbered by the agents of Torchwood, the Tyler’s security team and what looked like the Torchwood janitor carrying a pitchfork, began to lower their weapons. Roth had turned almost as white as his coat.

“Contain them,” Pete snarled remorselessly. “Terey, make sure Tony is protected.”

 

“Yes sir. Come on, lads. Let’s take you to the Torchwood holding cell, shall we?”

 

“Dad.” Rose had slipped out from behind the Doctor, but her hand was still on his wrist. “There are… photos, right? Letters… newspaper articles… _something_. From before? I need… Please let me see. Please tell me.”

 

Pete looked to his wife, who nodded. “They’re all locked in your old office at Torchwood,” Pete confirmed.

 

Rose blinked in shock, processing that, then suddenly burst out, “The door right down the hall from your office, to the left?”

 

Pete stared. “How did you-?”

 

Rose shrugged. “I wanted to go in there more than anything. It was like… I belonged in there. Couldn’t shake the feeling since the first time I walked past. Can we go now?”

 

“Yeah, sweetheart. You sure you want this?”

 

Rose turned to look at the Doctor, her eyes searching his face. “I’m very sure.”

 

The Doctor tugged his wrist from her grasp and entwined her fingers with his instead. She squeezed tightly, automatically, and he began to hope.

 

****

 

Pete unlocked the door with his master key after they’d spent fifteen frustrating minutes down at reception waiting for the person responsible for all the keys to find the one that unlocked Rose’s old office. Rose stood just behind her father, with her mother behind her and the Doctor bringing up the rear. In the background stood silent agents who had once been friends with Rose and who had heard what was happening. Jake was at the front of their pack.

 

“Here it is. Now don’t feel – What the _hell_ is this?”

 

Rose stood absolutely still and took in the scene in front of her. There was one standard desk and three chairs, a wilted potted plant and a dusty photo frame. Boxes of all shapes and sizes cluttered along the floor space. On the walls – written in marker, painted, spraypainted, chalked, carved, made from letters cut out from magazines, typed on pages that had been stuck haphazardly to the pale white paint – blared the same two words.

 

Bad Wolf.

 

Slowly, Rose walked into the room, staring at the repetition with silent eyes. “This is my handwriting,” she said faintly. A hand reached out and touched the place where the biggest version of the word was painted in dripping white paint. She hitched in a breath. “I am the Bad Wolf,” she said calmly. “I create myself.” And then again, slowly and with sudden irrevocable clarity. “ _I create myself_.”

 

Rose turned around and sought the Doctor’s eyes and it was like she was burning from within. Her eyes locked with his and there was no blankness, no shying away, no confusion. She looked, and she _saw_.

 

“Doctor,” she said.

 

This time, there was no murderous alien to stop her from crashing into him in a hug. She clawed herself closer to him with understanding and knowledge, now, and buried her face into the crook of his neck and held on as tight as she could. Before he was ready, she was letting go.

 

“Jake.” Her eyes were horrified. “Jake and there was blood and-”

 

“He’s outside,” the Doctor smiled.

 

Rose barrelled out and there was a surprised noise as Jake Simmonds suddenly got an armful of a very enthusiastic, very apologetic, very relieved Rose Tyler. Jackie (gaping), Pete (smiling softly) and the Doctor (beaming like a sun) followed her out and caught the two of them in a tight embrace. Rose let go and turned back to her parents and her face was once again dangerous.

 

“I’m going to _kill_ them. How _dare_ they?”

 

“You can get them after I’m done,” Pete told her calmly. “This little talk with them has been very overdue.” He softened. “I’m sorry, Rose. That we didn’t tell you. They had… They said…”

 

“And you seemed okay, sweetheart,” Jackie intervened, and there was guilt on her face too.

 

“Mum.” Rose was gentle but firm. “We’ve been through this. I just _can’t_ without him.”

 

Both her parents nodded at her before Jackie rounded on the Doctor. “Well, I guess that means I’ll be stuck having to look at your ugly mug on a regular basis once again.” She didn’t give him any time to reply before she hugged him fiercely. “Don’t feel you _have_ to show up, mind. Wouldn’t miss you.”

 

The Doctor felt himself grinning. Rose caught his eye and grinned right back, her tongue nipping out between her teeth.

 

“All right. You two bugger off for a while. I’ll call when things have settled down a bit. Oh, this is going to _kill_ the media…”

 

The Doctor and Rose linked hands firmly and headed home.

 

“You want some chips?”

 

“Oh, I’d _love_ some.”

 

*****

 

“Did you mean what you said?”

 

“That you let this place get so filthy I think there may be rats? Yeah.”

 

“Not _that_. About Reginald.”

 

“That I didn’t love him? Of course.”

 

“Yeah and… that you… you know… only let him kiss you three times. And nothing _else_ happened… I mean, I’m aware you thought he was your fiancé but-”

 

“Doctor.” She held his face in her hands lovingly. “I never did anything with Reginald. I promise.”

 

He grinned wide and long at her. “I’m overwhelmingly relieved.”

 

“What about… you? I mean… I was never coming back…”

 

He kissed her soundly. “Didn’t even look at another woman. Well. I looked at Tina’s awful new hairdo.” Rose giggled. There was a lapse of silence as they lay contently in each other’s arms. “I suppose you remember everything now?”

 

“Yeah. Well, not much about the attack but everything else.”

 

“Well… just to make sure…” He rolled himself towards her, making sure all she could see was his face. “Rose Tyler. I _love_ you.”

 

“Doctor John Alonso Harkness Noble Jones Smith Tyler.” She grinned cheekily. “My Doctor. I love you right back.”

 

He was beaming and he didn’t care. “So how long are you gonna stay with me?”

 

She rolled over until she was on top of him, her hands pressing onto his chest and her eyes promising a continuation of earlier in the day. “Forever.”


End file.
